Rose's Choice
by dragonwings948
Summary: Rose and TenToo travel to a new planet for the first time, and soon realize that there's big trouble brewing as they're both kidnapped...#3 in the Doctor WhoToo series, sequel to Story Time. Copyright to the BBC.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Thank you, Hannah, for the idea for this story. :)**

**Space, September 2012 (Earth time)**

"So," said the Doctor, releasing Rose's hand and running to the console, "where are we going?"

It took a minute for the question to run through Rose's head, as she was still reflecting on this new Doctor. He was different, even from that first year. He had never been so affectionate, or so energetic, though she knew that came from being in the TARDIS again.

"How do I know what to choose?" she responded after storing those thoughts in the back of her mind.

The Doctor swept past her, grabbing her hand as he did so, and led her to the TARDIS doors. He pulled them open with a flourish to reveal millions upon millions of bright lights amidst the backdrop of an empty blackness.

Though Rose had seen this scene before, it had been years. The sight took her breath away, and she could only gaze at it in awe for a long time.

"It's magnificent, isn't it?" the Doctor said in a subdued voice after a minute or so had gone by. He squeezed her hand and extended his arm toward the countless number of planets, stars, galaxies... "Pick one."

It was too big of a decision. There were too many things to choose from! As she scanned the endless expanse of space, her eyes came across a blinking yellow dot, far, far in the distance, surrounded by a bunch of blue stars. "What about there? That yellow one." Rose pointed and the Doctor followed her finger, squinting.

"It's a planet." He shrugged and beamed at her. "Who knows what we'll find? Allons-y!" The Doctor shut the doors and leaped to the controls, his excitement unable to be contained. "I can only estimate the coordinates, so no promises."

"I'm sure we'll manage to find trouble no matter where we end up," laughed Rose.

The Doctor looked back at her, eyebrows raised. "Still not afraid of danger, are you?"

"After everything I've seen with you?" Rose shook her head. "No."

"Good." The Doctor's hands danced along the console in a blur. After a moment he smiled, and looked up at her again. "Year?"

Rose looked up and picked a random number from her head. "Five thousand and twenty-six."

The TARDIS lurched, sending Rose sprawling into the control panel. Her stomach leaped with anticipation. She was in the TARDIS with the Doctor, traveling to who knew where. She couldn't keep herself from laughing at the sheer impossibility of it all. At one point, she would have never thought she could go back to this life. And now here she was.

The Doctor smiled at her from across the console, his features warped by the long tube that ran down the center of the TARDIS. Even so, Rose could see that he was beyond excited. Coming back to this life must be like coming home to him, just as it was for her.

In less than a minute, the TARDIS made that same old grinding, whining noise, and then became still. Rose straightened up and looked at the Doctor, whose smile stretched from ear to ear. Wanting to beat him to it, Rose bounded across the TARDIS and opened the door.

What met Rose's eyes was an endless expanse of orange-brown sand. She took a couple of steps forward, noting that it took next to no effort. Less gravity, then.

The TARDIS door creaked open again behind Rose, and she turned around to see the Doctor step out with a smile on his face. He squinted as he stepped out into the harsh sunlight, his eyes scanning their surroundings.

"Out of all the planets in the universe, you chose the eternal desert," he said, shaking his head.

"It's not like I knew! There's got to be something," Rose added to herself. She walked around to the other side of the TARDIS, and smiled as she saw something in the distance. It looked like a large gate of some sort, with rows of buildings behind it.

"Doctor!"

She heard his footsteps come up behind her. "Well, there's something! Oh," he added as if he had forgotten something, "got to get something from the TARDIS." He circled back around, but was gone for only a moment.

"Two things actually," he said as he approached her, dangling something from his fingers. He dropped it into her open palm, and Rose recognized the little silver key at first sight.

"TARDIS key," he said, nodding at her hand. "And don't go giving it away to anybody who meets your fancy."

"Shut up," Rose told him with a laugh, remembering her stupidity all too well. "What else?" she added, remembering that he had said he had two things.

The Doctor reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a shiny silver rectangle, no taller than a finger, almost like an oversized cigarette lighter. The only thing that adorned the outside was a red dome at the top which looked very similar to the end of a sonic screwdriver. The Doctor flipped the item up in the air and caught it again in his hand, looking at it with a proud smile.

"What is it?"

"A sonic receiver. Made it myself."

Rose was still skeptical. "What does it do?"

"Intercepts radio transmissions."

Rose waited for more explanation, but the Doctor just kept smiling at his creation. "Is that it?"

"It?" he asked, holding it up. "It took me almost the entire time you were asleep to make this. It's very useful."

"Useful," Rose scoffed. "When are we going to use _that? _We need a sonic screwdriver!"

"I would need a sonic phaser for that, and I can't make one anyway. This is the best I've got." He grinned again. "And it's brilliant."

Rose decided not to insult the object further. She followed the Doctor's gaze to the large gate ahead, wondering what would await them.

After a few moments, the Doctor perked up and offered her his arm, smiling like a kid. "Shall we?"

Rose looped her arm through his and smiled back. "I think we shall."


	2. Chapter 2

As they walked arm-in-arm to the gate, Rose couldn't help but feel like everything was perfect. Here she was with the Doctor, facing the unknown somewhere far away from Earth. But no matter what happened, they would see it through together, like they always had.

The gate loomed bigger in size as they approached it. When they finally reached the iron bars, it was at least three times the Doctor's height. Though there was no lock or anything keeping the two parts of the gate together, there was a small red light on one side. The Doctor dropped Rose's arm and tapped the light. He continued to examine the gate with close scrutiny, while Rose looked around to see if there was someone to let them in. Plenty of people were bustling about through the gates on the dirt street, but they were all too far away for her to reach, and the clamor they were making was too loud for her to call. There seemed to be some market going on, as little carts were set up in the middle of the street. Finally, Rose spotted a small booth outside of the gate, just a few meters away. She walked toward it, leaving the Doctor to whatever he was doing.

As she reached the booth, she saw that there was a stout, beady-eyed alien sitting inside. Its pale skin looked almost white, and it drummed long claws on the desk in front of it. Some sort of respirator was hooked up to where its mouth would be, and its breathing was very loud.

"Hello," said Rose as she approached, putting on a winning smile. "I was wondering, could you let us in the gate?"

The alien tapped one of its claws on a screen sitting on the desk. One word came up in just a few seconds, followed by strings of numbers in different categories: human. The alien squinted up at her.

"What are you doing here?" it asked in a definite male voice, tinged with an odd accent and a muffled sound.

"We were just looking around...My friend-" Rose leaned back to point to the Doctor, but he wasn't by the gate anymore.

"We wanted to look around the market." The Doctor's voice from behind made Rose jump. He slung his arm around her shoulders and smiled at her.

"Yeah, like he said."

The alien tapped his screen again, but tilted it forward so that the result was out of Rose's view. His eyes slitted, and he looked up at the Doctor with a sort of hatred in his stare. "I'm opening the gate, sir. Have a nice day." His voice dripped with sarcasm, and Rose wondered what could have come up on the screen. Did the aliens have something against time lords? Or had it showed the Doctor how he really was, half human and half time lord? Or had it simply come up with nothing at all, like scans had shown so many times before?

Rose was a little bit concerned by the alien's reaction, but the Doctor didn't even seem to be miffed. He smiled on and waved at the alien. "Thank you!" His arm still around Rose, he tugged her toward where the gate was pulling apart. As Rose looked back inside the booth, the alien reached for a button on the wall. With his back now to the alien, the Doctor pulled his sonic receiver out of his jacket pocket and clicked a small button on the side. It emanated a low hum as the red dome glowed, and then the alien's voice came from it.

"...is human. The other was a shape-shifted officer. Can't miss him; blue suit, red tie, brown hair. I think they might be onto us. Close all necessary stores."

The Doctor released the button and wagged his eyebrows at Rose. "Wouldn't need it?" He tapped her arm with the sonic receiver. "Apparently I'm an officer. And there's something not right here."


	3. Chapter 3

The Doctor and Rose walked through the gate. Once inside, the huge bars close shut again. The Doctor retracted his arm, and instead took hold of Rose's hand as if it was just the natural thing to do. People bustled about everywhere, pushing, shoving, stopping to look at certain carts or go inside one of the buildings. However, what stood out to Rose was that none of them were human.

"Notice anything?" the Doctor murmured as they weaved in and out of the crowd.

"No humans," she replied, copying his volume.

"This universe is ahead of the other one. The human race should definitely be spread out by this point in time. And this moon isn't too far from Earth either. It should have been one of the first ones to be populated by humans."

"Moon? I thought you said it was a planet."

"It's hard to tell from a lightyear away," he replied defensively.

On the side of the road, a couple of aliens ran up into a building; the same type of alien as the one at the booth. Their portable respirators bouncing, they slammed the door behind them, though the noise was lost in the sea of voices. In fact, the scene went unseen by most.

But not the Doctor.

He tugged her toward the building, which appeared to be some sort of shop. Though it had a sign hanging from its awning, instead of displaying a name, it displayed a picture of a chest filled with several random little items. The Doctor pushed open the door to a room full of tables of various odds and ends, just like in the picture on the sign. The two aliens, who seemed to have been conversing with another type of alien at the store's counter, spun around with looks of alarm on their faces.

"Hello," said the Doctor with a smile. He nodded at the tables around the room. "Nice stuff you have here. Mind if we have a look?"

Though it hesitated at first, one of the aliens in front of the counter nodded its head. The Doctor continued to smile, and then turned his gaze down to the random merchandise. Most of it was familiar to Rose; playing cards, cigarette lighters, pens, keys... And yet some of it was beyond her, too futuristic.

"No..."

Rose turned at the Doctor's exclamation. He was holding a long, silver tube in his hands, examining it with wide eyes and an open mouth. He stroked it with his fingertips, still with an awed expression.

"Beautiful," he murmured, "but impossible." He glanced over at the aliens, and then turned back to the tube. "How much for this, then?"

"Twen-twenty quisses," one of the aliens replied with a nervous stutter.

The Doctor patted himself down, his eyebrows drawn together. "Left my old wallet in the TARDIS," he mumbled. Finally he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a slim, black iPhone. "Tell you what." He walked toward the alien behind the counter, holding out his phone. "I'll trade you this old Earth mobile phone for this sonic phaser."

The alien nodded and took the phone from his grasp. The Doctor looked all three of the aliens over, smiling. "Very good, then. We'll be on our way." The Doctor walked out the door, flipping the sonic phaser up in the air, while Rose followed right behind him.

"What did you mean impossible?" asked Rose as they mingled with the crowd once more.

The Doctor dropped the sonic phaser into his pocket, his expression growing darker. "Did you see those aliens' claws?"

"The ones with the respirators? Yeah."

"A sonic phaser is an extremely intricate and delicate piece. It would be impossible for any of those aliens to make one with those claws. Not only that, but those phasers are hard to come by."

"How do you know?"

"I did some research before I made the sonic receiver, using the TARDIS and the little watch I stole from one of the Khals. Even in this universe, the materials to make a phaser are very rare."

"So what you're saying is, someone wouldn't just give it up?"

"No."

"They took it, then?"

"Probably."

She looked up at the Doctor, who wore a very serious expression. Trying to figure out why he was so troubled, she imagined the shop again, with all the different little pocket items...and then it dawned on her. "Do you think they killed them?" she asked. "The people who owned all that stuff, I mean."

"That's what we need to find out."

The Doctor continued to take long strides through the crowd, Rose having to take two steps for one of his. She began to fall behind, and soon lost sight of him. In the middle of the bustling crowd, she crossed her arms, huffed, and shook her head.

All of a sudden, her legs gave out from under her. Yet, instead of being trampled by the people that passed by, she found herself surrounded by four of the respirator aliens. She scrambled to get up on her feet, but found that her legs were numb, as if they had fallen asleep. Rose felt terror grip her stomach as one of the aliens swung a bony, clawed fist at her head, and then she knew no more.

The Doctor's mind raced. All of the things in that shop had been of human origin, items that humans tended to keep in their pockets or purses. The aliens had acted nervous around him, probably because they thought he was an "officer," whatever that meant.

So the conclusion was this: the aliens were up to something, but they kept it secret from these officers. Since picking up random lost items most likely wasn't a crime, it had to be worse than that. Rose's conclusion seemed like the most believable.

"We need to find out more about those items," he said to Rose. When no response came, he turned his head from side to side. She was nowhere to be seen.

The Doctor stopped amidst the crowd. "Rose!" he called. Before he could push through the throngs of people to find her, four pairs of arms seized his own with vice-like grips. The Doctor looked back to see the respirator aliens holding onto him. A fifth alien stood with one of those portable computer screens in its hand, shaking its head.

"You're no officer," it said. "We finally identified you, time lord. We order you to come with us."

"Where's Rose?" the Doctor asked, straining against the grip of the aliens. To his surprise, the tiny arms held him fast.

"Since you are not an officer, your human is subject to our laws. She will be put to good use."

"What have you done with her?" The Doctor began to struggle harder, pushing all of his force into it. He managed to shake one alien off just as the fifth alien reached up and pressed a wet cloth against the Doctor's mouth and nose.

The Doctor held his breath, his heart pounding. He kicked one of the aliens off of his arm, leaving only two left. He raised his arms to fling them away, but another one of the aliens punched him in the gut. As an involuntary reaction, the Doctor inhaled a deep whiff of the drenched cloth, and his vision went dark.


	4. Chapter 4

Rose didn't want to open her eyes. Her head was pounding, and it felt like it weighed a ton. Her stomach was pressed down by something heavy. Something else covered her mouth, and she attempted to lift her hand to wipe it away. Her arm didn't move.

Fear twisting her gut, Rose made herself open her eyes. The world swam before her for a moment before everything became clear. She was sitting in a hard chair, her hands held down by manacles on top of the table in front of her. Also in her direct line of sight was a skinny, clear tube that ran up to the ceiling. She followed the pipe that came down from it until she went cross-eyed at her nose.

It was a mask, covering her mouth. Her nose was still free, and she sucked in air through it, breathing out into the pipe. She could see it fog up in time with her breaths, and wondered what it was for.

Where was she?

Hospital was ruled out. Last time she checked, hospitals didn't imprison their patients in a chair. What was the mask for, then? If she was chained down, it couldn't be for a good reason. The thought of breathing in some kind of poison crossed her mind, but she wasn't breathing in through the tube, only out. So what did they want? Her breath? Why?

If those aliens wanted her air, they couldn't have it. Rose held her breath. A stinging sensation crept into her wrists, and then increased to burning. She looked down and saw that the manacles holding her down were a bright red. She let out all of her stored up breath in a whoosh of air. The manacles instantly became cool again.

Rose sighed. "Don't need that again," she muttered to herself.

"Be careful."

Rose turned her head to the right. An older man sat next to her, definitely human. He wore a mask too, connected to another tube. Beside him was another person in the same state. And another. And another. The row of chairs was endless as far as Rose could see.

She focused again on the man next to her, the one who had spoken. "If you stop breathing, or exhale through your nose, that will happen," he continued in a whisper, his voice muffled. "And if you stop for too long, it will shock you, and you're gone."

"What do they want it for, then?"

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, something bashed against the back of Rose's head. "Oi!" She looked back to see one of the aliens walking by with its fist in the air, its tiny eyes on her.

"Keep quiet, human!"

The thing that struck Rose as odd was that the alien wasn't wearing a respirator like the rest of them had been. She looked back at the old man, but he was faced forward again. She didn't blame him; she didn't want another smack on the head either.

_Breath. What do they need our breath for? The ones I saw before had breathing masks. These don't. Why not? Do they have to breathe human air? Why? _

Rose looked down at her manacles again and wiggled her wrists around inside. There was little room; they would be impossible to get out of. She looked around for any other form of escape. Nothing.

She sighed and leaned back against the hard chair she sat in. At least her life wasn't in danger. Maybe she was just helping these aliens out. She just had to find the Doctor so he could sort it all out...

A gasping noise came from beside Rose. She turned to her left to see a girl, probably about the same age as her, continuing to gasp and cough.

"What's wrong?" asked Rose, leaning over toward the girl as far as she could. She didn't seem to be able to hear Rose, or she didn't respond. Her gasps grew quieter, and Rose turned her head and looked back at her own tube. There was nothing she could do.

After a few more seconds, complete silence reigned once more.


	5. Chapter 5

"...could make a fortune off of him. I mean, look at him! His race has been completely wiped out. I don't know where he came from or how he's still alive."

The Doctor lifted his eyelids, taking every bit of concentration he had. He found himself staring up at one of the beady-eyed, long-clawed aliens, a broad smile on its face, which was free of the breathing masks he had seen on the rest of them. The alien tapped a claw on the glass in between them, nodding as if in response to someone else out of sight.

His head swimming, the Doctor made an attempt to stand up, pushing against the wall behind him. He took in his surroundings, recognizing a four walled prison, with the front wall as a thick piece of glass. Judging by the easygoing manner of the alien, it wasn't going to be broken by mere force.

_His race has been completely wiped out. _

The words of the alien finally went through the Doctor's head again. He could feel a deep anger rising from the pit of his stomach. He clenched his hands into fists and closed his eyes. Like a boiling cauldron, his anger continued to bubble up to his throat, where it was voiced in a loud, long, rageful cry.

"No!"

The Doctor sank to the ground, his knees halfway up to his chest and his fists pressed against his face. He threw one fist against the floor, sending a shock of pain up through his arm. He didn't care.

"No," he whispered.

Even though he had tried not to, the Doctor had been building up so much hope inside of him. A different universe, different circumstances. Maybe no Time War. Maybe no extinction of the time lords. Anything but being alone like he had been before.

But now all those hopes were dashed.

_I am alone. _

The Doctor heaved a long sigh. No, he wasn't alone. He had Rose. He would always have Rose.

He looked up at the alien. He was staring at him through the glass with interest, seeming to be amused by his outburst. The Doctor glared at him. He had to find Rose. Knowing her, she was probably in some sort of danger.

"What's wrong, time lord?" the alien asked with the same hideous smile.

The Doctor hoisted himself off the ground and strode to the glass, his nose coming just within an inch of the surface. "What did you do with Rose?"

The alien shrugged and turned his head to the side. The Doctor heard another faint voice, and then the alien turned back to face him. "She has been taken to one of several factories on our home planet, Crespion, where we live underground. Since we cannot breathe on its polluted surface, we extract air from the lungs of humans and use it to saturate the air so that it is breathable underground."

"That's not so bad. Maybe I can help you." The Doctor mulled over his words for a moment and measured the alien's expression. He seemed to be growing less sadistic as he talked. "Why do you only need humans?"

"It is the only other air we can breathe."

The Doctor noted that the answer was very vague. "Why not just move to another planet, then?"

The alien's eyes grew wide. "We can't. The Crespians can only live on their home planet."

"Why?"

The alien's invisible eyebrows furrowed together. "Other people have tried, but after a short period of time, even with respirators, they die."

_Lies. _The signs of purposefully spread rumors were obvious. This alien had been deceived, most likely along with several others as well. The Doctor sighed, and enunciated every word carefully in his next question. "Is she in danger?"

Though the alien was becoming more open, he wasn't becoming any softer. He showed no sympathy whatsoever. "After a short time, the humans' lungs collapse because of the underground pressure."

Fear jolted the Doctor's body. "How long is a short time?"

"The longest one has lived six days."

"Six days," he repeated in a murmur. His stomach began to turn at the thought of humans being thrown in and out of those factories like they were nothing more than garbage... "That's sick, using humans, or anyone for that matter, in that way."

"We must survive. It is our only way."

"We'll see about that," the Doctor mumbled to himself. "Let me out," he added in a normal tone. "Please. I have to save my friend."

The alien's face hardened once more. "No. A rare specimen like you could give me enough money to buy a new, fully furnished cave." He began to turn away.

"But I'm not a time lord," said the Doctor, the words burning on his tongue. "I'm half human."

The Crespian stopped and looked back at him.

"Really. Check your scans again. I'm not only time lord."

The Crespian was handed a portable screen by his out of sight comrade. He looked down at the screen, and his brow furrowed. "It says time lord," he muttered, a little less enthusiastic than he had been a few seconds before.

"Maybe, but right before it did, there was a little flicker on the screen, lasted only a second. It said human."

The alien looked concerned, showing the Doctor that he had been right. Aided by another Crespian, the alien the Doctor had been talking to opened the door to his cell and dragged him out by his arms. Saying nothing, they carried him as such down a long, oval-shaped hallway. It shone like some sort of metal, and control panels to cells lined the walls. A low hum reverberated throughout the floor. Spaceship, obviously.

They passed many more Crespians on the way, none of them wearing breathing masks. They must have saturated the spaceship with human air. Which meant...

The Doctor's first impulse was to hold his breath, but that wouldn't get him any closer to finding Rose. He could be breathing in the very air from her lungs right now. It was sick, so sick.

And that's why he was going to stop it.

After a minute or two the Crespians turned into an open doorway. From the Doctor's first glance he could tell it was a lab by the tables filled with bottles of liquid and various vials and tubes lying about. His captors took him to a metal table at the end of the room, where they strapped him down at his wrists, ankles, and waist.

The Crespians left his side to converse quietly with another of their race that was examining a test tube full of bubbling purple liquid. She (or so it sounded by the soft voice) nodded, and stepped away from her work to glance over at the Doctor. After looking him over for a moment, she grabbed something from a nearby table and strode toward him. She rolled up the Doctor's sleeve, exposing his forearm. Without warning, she stabbed something into his arm, and as the Doctor looked down, he watched his blood slurp up into a clear glass tube.

"Ow!" he exclaimed. "You could have warned me before you did that."

No kind of response came from any of the Crespians. After another second, the female pulled the needle out of his arm and then swiped a damp cloth over the wound, sealing it up completely. The Doctor marveled at the technology, wondering what it was.

"What's that?" he asked, nodding down at his arm. Yet still, none of the aliens paid him any attention.

The two jailors gathered around the scientist, who had just poured the blood into a large beaker. After a moment, the glass surface of the equipment turned dark. It stayed like that for a few seconds, which seemed to make the Crespians a bit edgy. Then the word "human" flashed across the surface, and disappeared. A few more blank seconds passed by until it said "time lord". It then flashed back and forth between the two species, never settling on one for more than a second or two.

The Crespian that had talked to the Doctor balled his claws up into a fist as best he could and slammed them on the table. "No! He's a fake!" He turned around to glare at the Doctor through his tiny eyes. His claws scraped against each other as he uncurled his hands, splaying out his sharp appendages.

"He's no use to us. Let's kill him now!"

"Wait."

The Doctor craned his neck past the Crespians to see that another had entered the room. The other three touched the tips of their claws to the ground and bowed, seeming to be a sign of reverence. The new Crespian looked no different from the others, apart from wrinkles in his skin which came with age, as well as a ring on his right ring finger. The ring looked as if it was active, something electrically powered that could be programmed... Before the Doctor could finish his examination, the Crespian clasped his hands behind his back and approached the Doctor with curious eyes.

"He's not a full time lord, Governor," said the female scientist. "Only half. He's also half human."

"But his air won't work?"

"No."

"Governor," said the Doctor, turning the Crespian's head. "I can help you to find a better way to breathe rather than having to capture humans."

The Governor raised an invisible eyebrow. "And what makes you think you can do that?"

"I'm the Doctor."

His black eyes widened just a slight bit. "The Doctor? I've heard of you. A meddler in the affairs of every alien life form you come in contact with."

"Oh yes," the Doctor said, smiling to himself. So, he would make a name for himself in this universe too. "But I meddle for good. Let me help you."

"You help the humans," the Governor muttered to himself, shaking his head, "and I don't want to bring a curse down on my head by killing you. We'll take him to the prison," he added, louder. The Crespians nodded, and the same two as before unchained the Doctor from the table and dragged him through the hallway again, bringing him back to his cell. After throwing him in and closing the glass, they punched a series of buttons beside the cell. Another padded wall came down between the Doctor and the glass, with only a little slit for vision outside.

The Doctor pushed himself off of the ground and peered through the rectangular hole. The two Crespians stood outside of his cell, waiting relaxed with their arms by their sides. The Doctor sat back down with a huff. Now what were they doing to him?

A few minutes passed, and then the Doctor's cell began to rumble. He roused himself and jumped up to look out the tiny slit. The Crespians grew further and further away as the Doctor's cell moved backwards. After a few seconds, space surrounded him, and he could see the whole of the Crespian ship. Before he could get a good look, the cell turned, facing him toward a large moon.

The prison. The Governor hadn't meant his cell, he had meant the Crespian prison. Which just happened to be an entire moon.


	6. Chapter 6

Rose tried to stare straight ahead as the aliens beside her unchained the dead woman. The sound of her choked gasps still echoed in Rose's mind, and she concentrated on breathing in and out at a reasonable pace. She risked a glance sideways, only to meet the eyes of one of the aliens that was peering right in her direction.

Something cold and smooth slipped in between Rose's hand and the table it lied on. She looked to the side again, and the same alien stared back at her and gave an almost imperceptible nod. Then it turned back to watch two others like it pick up the limp woman from the chair and carry her away. The other alien followed them, bumping shoulders with Rose as it did.

"Wait," he said in a low hiss, not even pausing beside her.

Rose clutched the thing in her hand, wondering what the alien had meant. Was it code? A message? But about what? If he was doing it secretly, did that mean he was good?

She looked down at her hand, maneuvering the object until she could see it. It looked like just a silver metal tube, with a tiny unlit bulb on the end of it. What could it be for? Was she supposed to use it?

In an attempt to hide the tube in her grasp again, it clinked against the metal of her manacles. Rose looked up and scanned around her, but no one was looking at her. She sighed, looked down, and saw that the light on the end of the tube was red. Was that bad?

Nothing happened, however, and Rose was left to wonder for hours. Or was it days? It was impossible to keep track of time. Her tongue grew heavy without any moisture. Her stomach began to rumble.

An alien guard came by and lifted her mask off of her face. Before Rose could voice a question, something like a water bottle was shoved into her mouth. She drank the whole thing greedily, and then the mask was clapped back on to her mouth. The alien walked away and did the same thing to the old man beside her.

After a long period of time, Rose finally heard a different sound. Footsteps sounded behind her. That wasn't abnormal, as guards always patrolled the area, but these footsteps clopped on the ground with a hurried purpose. She listened until the footsteps approached right behind her, and the alien who had given her the tube appeared beside her.

"Don't make a sound," he warned in a low voice as he took the tube from her hand with his long claws. He tapped the tube to her manacles, and the light flashed green. The chains split in half and opened up, letting Rose lift up her stiff arms. The alien touched the tube to the clamp around her waist, and Rose stood up in front of the chair, her legs buckling underneath her. He caught her before she could fall, and lifted the mask off of her face.

"Come with me," he murmured, his claws around her arm. Rose followed the tug and turned around, but stopped at the sight, making her stumble onto the ground.

"Come on!" the alien said with urgency. He dragged her along, and Rose could only stare as they ran past endless rows of humans, all hooked up to breathing masks.

The Doctor was thrown against the back of his cell as it met resistance in the atmosphere of the moon. Whether it was natural or some kind of force field, it was impossible to tell, though a force field was likely over a prison. After the cell jolted violently for a minute or two and reverted back to a smooth descent, the Doctor looked outside. The surface of the moon was now so near that he could see individual dwellings on the rocky, dusty terrain that was similar to Earth's moon.

It was then that he realized that the cell wasn't slowing down. It continued to barrel toward the ground, and the Doctor ran through a million plans in his head that couldn't work, especially since he still didn't have a sonic screwdriver. He felt all along the smooth walls of the cell, looking for anything that might help. There was nothing. All was lost. Would he really die here on his first adventure, miles away from Rose?

All of a sudden, the cell stopped, tossing the Doctor upward so that his head knocked against the ceiling. He fell back down on his side, sending a shock of pain through his ribs. The cell then descended at a slow pace, until it landed with a final thump on the ground. The Doctor sat up and groaned, rubbing his head. His ribs were probably bruised too.

The front wall of the cell collapsed outward. The Doctor stood up and walked out onto the surface of the moon, noting that the gravity was much heavier here, and oxygen was abundant. Tall mountains loomed in the distance every way he looked, though he seemed to be in a valley in between two of them. One lone dwelling, constructed of dark stones, stood off across the valley.

After taking everything in, the Doctor ran through the situation in his mind. Somehow, he had to leave this moon. The only way to go back into space right now was the cell, but there was no way to tell if it could lift off and make it anywhere. He needed to find out more information about this place.

Trying to focus through a pounding headache, the Doctor made his way toward the house. Though it could have only been maybe forty or fifty meters away, it felt like he was walking twice that distance, as his steps were weighed down by gravity. By the time he reached the wooden door, he was panting and wiping his sweaty forehead. It was very hot and humid, as two suns towered over him. Concentrating his effort, the Doctor reached his arm up to knock on the door.

"H-Hello?" asked a female voice in surprise.

"Hello," the Doctor called, looking around for some sort of window. "I'm the Doctor. I've just arrived here, and I need someone to help me."

After a few seconds there was shuffling inside, and then the door swung inward to reveal a Crespian. Instead of wearing a mask, she wore a thin, metal collar around her neck. Her almost invisible eyebrows shot up as soon as she laid eyes on the Doctor. "Are you human?" she asked, incredulous.

"No. Well...sort of. But that doesn't matter." He paused and looked her over. "I'm not too fond of Crespians right now, but you must be here because you did something against the Governor, which makes me think I'm going to like you." He raised his eyebrows, waiting for an explanation.

"Come inside," the Crespian said. The Doctor stepped in to a small, one room house with crude furniture. The Crespian closed the door behind him and gestured for him to sit on a lop-sided sofa. He sat gently, making the wood underneath creak and groan.

"Don't worry about that, it's strong enough to hold three of you. I was an engineer and a scientist, so I know how to build things." She coughed and locked eyes with the Doctor. "I'm Raylia, by the way...and treason. That's why I'm here. A group of us defied the Governor and got sent here, miles apart." She pulled on the collar around her neck. "If we go out of our boundaries, we get shocked. I'm surprised you don't have one."

"I think they were in a hurry to get me out of there. What did you do against the Governor?" asked the Doctor with interest.

"Do you know what he's doing to humans?"

The Doctor's tone darkened. "Yes."

"We created a resistance group to stop the murdering of humans."

"Why would you care?"

Raylia smiled. "We are just people, Doctor..."

"Just the Doctor."

Her eyes widened, just a little bit, like she recognized the name, but didn't say any more about it. "We are just people, Doctor, even the Governor. We have been told our whole lives that we need human air to breathe, but one day when my friend went up on the surface of our planet and could breathe perfectly fine, we knew that the Governor was either misinformed or lying. We spread the word through our people, and the ones that believed us joined our secret resistance group. Through a series of investigations, we found that the Governor knew very well that we could breathe without human air. Our sense of justice was aroused, and we knew that the Governor had to be stopped. We tried to tell the rest of our people the truth, but it was no use. We were too few, and no one believed us. Finally, someone told the Governor about us, and he arrested us and sent us here to live lonely lives."

The Doctor knew all too well what that kind of life felt like. "I'm sorry, Raylia. I am truly sorry."

"It's alright, Doctor. At least I have food to eat and a place to live, I'm thankful for that."

Admiring her optimism, the Doctor smiled. "That's a good way to look at it." He thought through her story again. "Why would the Governor murder humans for no reason?"

"That I don't know," Raylia said with a sigh. "Like I said, even he is just. Every person on this prison has been placed here for a real reason."

The Doctor jumped up and clapped his hands together. "Enough of that, then. I have to figure out how to get out of here."

Raylia stood up next to him. "I've already tried everything, Doctor. There's no way out of here."

"No, you couldn't have tried everything. There's something very important that you didn't have before."

Raylia raised her eyebrows in question.

"Me. Now," said the Doctor, striding out the front door and looking up into the sky, "there's some kind of force field up there."

"Yes. Things can come in, but nothing can get out," Raylia said, following him.

"What happens if you try?"

"You get fried."

"Electrical power, then. Are the generators on the moon?"

Raylia shook her head, looking up at the sky. "The force field is generated from the mother ship."

The Doctor smiled and looked at her. "Really? Even if it's lightyears away?"

"Yes. Why do you look so impressed?"

"Because I am. That's advanced technology. So, no taking down the generators then." The Doctor thrust his hands into his pockets, a habit when he was thinking. His knuckles touched something cold, and he grabbed it in his hand. "Oh," the Doctor said in surprise. "Oh!" He laughed as Raylia looked on in confusion.

"What?"

"They made one big mistake. One _huge _mistake." He pulled the sonic phaser out of his pocket and flipped it up in the air. "They forgot to check my pockets."


	7. Chapter 7

"So you're trying to help us escape?" Rose leaned back against the wall, digesting all the new information about these "Crespians". This little group certainly was brave, daring to rescue a human prisoner and hiding her within the walls of the Crespians' own underground domain.

The lead Crespian, Ferris, nodded and fidgeted, though there wasn't much room with the five of them in such a cramped space. "What the Governor has done to your people is wrong."

"That's it, then? You just...want to help?"

The other three Crespians nodded with Ferris

"But why me?"

"There's a look about you," continued Ferris. "I don't know what it is, but when I looked into your eyes I knew that you loved your race and would do anything to help them escape. And I saw the strength and courage to do it."

Rose smiled at the compliment of sorts. "Some of that came from my friend, the Doctor." She paused and tilted her head up, imagining the TARDIS sitting all by itself in the middle of that desert on the moon. "He'll find me. I just hope that he didn't get into any trouble."

"The Doctor?" asked one of the Crespians, leaning closer. "You said your name was Rose...Do you mean _the _Doctor?"

"Do you know him?" asked Rose, getting her hopes up.

"I've heard of him. All of the Crespians have."

Rose sighed, still wondering where the Doctor was, but her curiosity was piqued at the Crespian's statement. "How?"

"He's a legend," responded another, a smile on his face. "You both are. Merchants from all over the universe come to trade on our planet, and many of them carry stories about the Doctor and Rose."

Rose smiled to herself, pleased. At least that meant both of them would get out alive...unless time could be rewritten. She shook her head, dispelling the confusing thoughts. She was still unclear about all that future changing stuff.

"What do you plan on doing, then? And why do you need me?"

"We have been working on this for years, as we said," said Ferris, pointing to a Crespian beside him. "Sarine here has gained the position of head security monitor, which means she has power over the manacles that bind the humans..."

"...but you can't set them free because of the guards."

"Right. It was all I could do to get a gap where I could release you." Ferris nodded and resumed. "But we've been working on that too. Tomorrow we're going to shut down the human air supply to all the factories, as all the pipes are connected. Sirens will go off, alerting all Crespians to evacuate. They'll leave in a panic, and we'll wait until they're all gone to release the humans and transport them to Earth using our ships." Ferris smiled, showing off tiny, sharp teeth.

"That's it?" The plan was so simple, and yet she knew it would work. The Crespians obviously believed that they wouldn't survive without human air.

"Simply put, yes. There are seven factories, all very close and connected. The prisoners will all be released at the same time, but you're probably going to have to go into all the factories to lead the humans out. There is also a risk that the Governor will send down soldiers or engineers to investigate while we're evacuating the humans..."

"But that's very unlikely," finished another Crespian quickly, whose name she had caught was Trello. She felt some sort of subconscious aversion to him, though she didn't know why. Maybe something about the look in his eyes...

"Yes," assured Ferris. "Very unlikely. It will most likely take him hours to send a team down. He'll assume the humans are still trapped, so there's no rush."

"Good. But you still didn't answer why you need me."

"I let you go first because the humans need someone to follow from their own race. They won't believe me, or any other of my kind, now that we have captured them and they see us patrolling down the halls every day. They'll trust you."

Rose nodded. "Is there anything else I can do before then?"

"We have everything under control. I'll come get you when it's time. All you need to do is lead them wherever I tell you to go."

"Sounds simple enough."

"You can stay in here for the night," said Ferris with a sheepish grin, looking around at the packed dirt walls. "We would gladly let you stay in one of our caves, but we wouldn't want to compromise your safety. No one knows about this place except for the four of us, so you are completely safe here."

"I can manage it for one night." Rose grimaced internally at the dusky smell and hard earthen floor. She turned her gaze to Ferris, and to each of the other three Crespians in turn. "Thank you for doing this."

Ferris touched his claws to the floor and bowed as well as he could in the small space. "It is an honor to help you, Rose, and your race."

The Crespians left then, leaving Rose all to herself with nothing but her thoughts to occupy her mind. They left her a small pillow and a blanket as well as a few sweet, biscuit-like cakes. She ate one and then lied down on the hard ground, roots poking her back.

Though she was tired, it took Rose a while to go to sleep in such an uncomfortable setting. She wondered where the Doctor was, and thought about how happy she would be to see him again.

Tomorrow couldn't come soon enough.


	8. Chapter 8

"Rose!"

Rose shot up to meet the frantic eyes of Ferris. She could tell immediately that something was not right.

"What's wrong?"

"We cut off the air supply and the Crespians are evacuating, but the Governor is sending a whole platoon of soldiers, and they're almost here! Somehow he found out about our plan."

"So what do we do?"

"We can't back out now; we'll never have a chance again if the Governor's coming so soon. He'll tighten up everything." He looked at her with a painful expression. "We have to do it now."

Rose swallowed hard. She knew by his face that everything wasn't going to be perfect like they planned. She knew that lives were at stake, even her own.

"Let's go."

Ferris led her through a long, cramped tunnel. He barreled on ahead while Rose straggled behind, unaccustomed to crawling through the underground. It seemed like hours, especially with the urgency at hand. Ferris was waiting for her at the end, and ran as soon as she touched the ground in a large room with metal walls.

Rose followed him down a series of hallways as he related to her the way to get outside, telling her to find him once the everyone was inside the large elevators that would lead them to the surface. Blaring alarms were sounding everywhere from an unknown source, and after a few minutes it grew even more shrill. Rose covered her ears and yelled to fight the noise.

"What's that?"

"Releasing the humans. Come on!"

Ferris somehow quickened his short legs to run even faster. Rose pushed forward and ran past him, reaching the room where she had been imprisoned. Humans were getting out of chairs and stumbling about, rejoicing at their freedom.

"We've got to get out of here!" Rose yelled. A couple people turned their heads, but most didn't pay attention.

"Look!" Rose went up to a middle-aged woman, breathless as she tried to talk. "The aliens are coming for us! We have to get outside into their spaceships! Tell everyone to follow me. Follow me!" she added as a yell.

Rose turned and ran, not looking to see who followed her. She repeated the directions from Ferris to herself and found the large elevator-like platform he had spoken of. She spun around, seeing that a great mass had followed her, and yelled again. "Everyone get in!"

The elevator was massive, big enough for about a fourth of the thousands of humans. Luckily there were six more, so there was plenty of room. Rose looked around for Ferris, and spotted him running toward her as the last elevator shot up out of sight.

"Come on!" He grabbed her arm and began pulling her along.

Rose hesitated and looked back up at where the elevator had gone.

"They're safe," Ferris reassured. "Our ships are up there waiting to take them home. But the Governor's soldiers are going to be here very soon!"

Without another word, Rose followed Ferris. She was so out of practice with running that she became short of breath after only a minute, but spurred herself on with the thought of saving lives. Every second mattered.

Ferris led her through another cramped tunnel, which Rose was pretty sure was an air duct of some kind. Her Crespian friend basically pulled her through, making the going much swifter. On the other side was a metal room, very similar to the one they had entered the air duct in.

"This is the next factory," panted Ferris. "Let's go!"


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Sorry I haven't been able to update as much. School, band and college apps are pretty much my life right now, and with NaNoWriMo starting up now, it's been hard to find time to keep updating. I'm trying my best! :)**

The Doctor stared in awe at the huge pile of "rubbish," filled with anything anyone could ever imagine. From food, to books, to spare parts, to metal bits...

"Where did all this come from?" he asked as they approached the dump, looking over at Raylia.

The Crespian responded in a timid voice, her eyes darting from side to side. "The Governor dumps whatever he doesn't want here. This area is accessible to all prisoners, so it's dangerous."

"I'll keep a lookout then." The Doctor picked up a charred piece of a metal frame from the outside of the heap and then tossed it behind him "Are you sure all the parts are here? Some of them are very hard to come by..."

"I'm sure. You could probably build anything from the parts that are here. I'll get the parts for the screwdriver, you can work on the parts for the shields."

"Yes ma'am."

The Doctor walked off into the heap, his footsteps crunching on who knew what. He kept Raylia in sight, remembering that she said it was dangerous.

His head was filled with the parts he needed to install shields on the ship. An electromagnetic calibrator, a few wires, one of those wobbly things...

His next footstep was muted. The Doctor paused and looked down at a dirt smudged white book. Curious, like usual, the Doctor picked it up and read the cover of the little handbook. It was entitled _Procedures for Registered Spaceships._

"Hm." The Doctor flipped through it, read a few interesting things, and then tucked it into his jacket pocket. It may come in handy.

Like Raylia had said, the Doctor found all the parts he needed, and a few extra things which could help too, including a bag which he put all the parts in. He met up with his Crespian friend about an hour later, finding that she had been just as successful with a large, bulging bag in her arms.

"Let's go," she said, as soon as she was assured that they had everything. She swiveled her head back and forth, still watching.

Almost as if on cue, a whistle sounded in the distance. The Doctor heard Raylia's breath catch. His head snapped toward the noise to see a Crespian running full speed towards the dump. Another four followed behind.

"Doctor!" screeched Raylia in fear. "What do we do?"

The Doctor sucked in a big breath, waiting for a genius plan to come to his mind. Nothing came. Option number two, then.

"We run!" He grabbed her hand and tugged her after him, running full speed ahead with their plentiful bounties.

"We're in my zone," Raylia breathed after a few minutes, tugging on her collar and slowing to a walk. "They can't reach us."

The Doctor smiled over at Raylia, his breathing ragged and his chest burning. "I'm out of practice with running," he said with a shaky laugh. "How long will it take you to make the sonic?"

"Me?" Raylia raised her claws in the air. "Do you think these could make something as delicate as a sonic screwdriver?" She smirked. _"You're _the one who's making it. I'm just here to tell you how."


	10. Chapter 10

Rose repeated the same procedure she had for the first factory with the next three, saving most of the people as she had done the first time. Just a few wary stragglers wouldn't pay any heed to her, but most people followed. Most people were saved.

In the fifth factory, Rose guided the people to the elevators again like she had before, but this time she heard screams of panic. She risked a glance behind her to see armed Crespians running about, shooting off laser guns at any human close by. People collapsed all over the place, and the Crespians seemed to be growing in number.

"Come on!" Rose yelled at the top of her lungs, forcing her legs to pump faster.

One elevator filled. Two. The Crespians were approaching, shooting anyone they could. People were dropping like flies.

"There she is!"

Rose heard the shout behind her, and could only think of it as in reference to her. She pushed one more woman into the second elevator, and then turned to face the Crespians. They surrounded her, all the other humans either lying unmoving on the ground or scrambling into another elevator.

"The Governor will see this one," stated one of the Crespians.

Rose put her hands on her hips, unafraid. "Yeah, I'd like to see this Governor of yours too."

Another Crespian smirked. "We never said you'd be conscious for it." He turned a knob on the side of his gun and pulled the trigger before Rose could even think.

She fell on the ground, relieved as she saw the last remaining humans lift off in the elevator. Still, she had failed to free all the prisoners. All she had had to do was lead them, and she had failed...

These thoughts prevalent in her mind, Rose blacked out.

"Just one more adjustment there..."

The sonic screwdriver's buzz elicited a spark from the exposed panel inside the Doctor's former prison cell. He jerked his hand away and then peered at the computer system again, making sure everything was in its place. Ah, one more wire needed rerouting...

The Doctor, unfamiliar with his new sonic, pressed a button out of old habit. He watched as the screwdriver's top part extended out, leaving a thick length in between the handle and the top. Four thin pieces uncurled from the length, and closed together on top of the blue dome like a cage. Then the whole top part began to spin and glow a bright blue. The Doctor stared at it with wide eyes, mouth agape.

"This is beautiful!" he exclaimed, looking up at Raylia. "What does it do?"

"Widens its transmitting and receiving range."

"Brilliant!" He pressed the button again, making the sonic screwdriver return to its normal state. Aiming it inside the panel, he pressed another button, making the screwdriver emit a buzzing sound. He reached his hand inside, moved the wire around, and then used the sonic on it again so that it would stay in place.

"There we go!" he said, jumping up and clapping his hands together. "All ready and programmed to fly back to the mother ship. The shields should stand against the force field."

Raylia smiled at him. "Good luck."

The Doctor beamed back at her. "Thank you, Raylia. I couldn't have done this without you; getting the parts to install the shields from the junkyard..." He lifted his sonic screwdriver up in front of his eyes and admired it again. "And you taught me how to make my own sonic! It's brilliant!"

Raylia laughed, but it quickly melted into a frown. She reached down for the bag of parts she had taken from the junkyard and pulled out a gleaming silver laser gun. "I know you said you'll be able to handle the Governor when you get up there, but he's become a corrupt member of my race, and I don't know what he'll do." She handed the gun to him. The Doctor touched it with his fingertips, unsure. He felt a sort of repulsion and attraction to it at the same time. It was probably better to have it, just in case.

He curled his fingers around the handle and tucked it into his jacket pocket. "Thank you. When I'm finished, I'll come back and take you anywhere you'd like to go. How does that sound?"

She smiled. "I'll be able to see my family again..." Tears filled her eyes, and she nodded. "It sounds wonderful, Doctor. Be careful."

The Doctor nodded and then put the prison's freed panel back in place. A wall closed in between him and Raylia, and a rumbling rose up from the bottom of the ship. Pressing his palms against the walls on either side of him, he braced himself as the cell launched into the air.

"Come on," he murmured to himself as he felt the small ship hitting resistance in the atmosphere. "You can hold. Come on!"

The walls grew warm. The Doctor hoped with all his might that the ship would hold. Suddenly there was something like a snap, and the ship flung away. The Doctor scrambled to look out of the viewing port.

The prison moon was already far away.

The Doctor laughed. "Oh yes!"

After only a few more minutes of waiting, he felt the ship slow down (he had taken the liberty of installing brakes as well). There was a muted thud, and the ship grew quiet. The fourth padded wall lifted up to reveal a glass wall behind it, with a surprised Crespian staring inside.

Not just any Crespian. It was the Governor.


	11. Chapter 11

The Doctor pointed his screwdriver at the panel that now blended in with the rest of the wall. It buzzed and the glass door lifted. The Doctor strode through and came face to face with the Governor, two other astonished Crespians standing beside him.

"Hello, there! Your prison moon was a bit dull, so I decided to pop back here for a bit."

The two Crespians made a move to grab the Doctor, but he neatly sidestepped them. Their momentum carried them into the vacated cell, and the Doctor pointed his sonic at a panel on the outside. The fourth wall of the cell closed, and the Crespians pounded on the wall.

The Governor stared at him in awe. "But how?"

"I had some help. Now, I need you to tell me why you're so bent on killing humans." He raised his hands in he air. "No trick, I just want to understand."

The Governor stared at him through slitted eyes for a moment. Then, slowly, he responded. "My son. He went on an expedition and crashed on Earth. I never saw him again."

The Governor began to inch backward, and the Doctor took two steps for every one of his. The Crespian leader continued. "I learned later that the humans captured him, kept him in prison, and tested on him. He died after only a few months."

The Doctor sympathized a little bit. But only a little bit. His voice came out sharper now, with more of an edge. "So you decided to murder every human you saw? It's sick. Why?"

"They needed to pay for what they did."

Then the Doctor understood. The Crespians were just; but the Governor's justice had gone mad, fed by unchecked rage. "Well I'm telling you now that you need to let them go."

The Crespian continued to inch back, as if scared. "Why?"

"Because I'm the Doctor. And if you don't, I'm going to have to stop you. But before I do..." The Doctor leaned forward and spoke in a low, menacing voice. "What have you done with Rose?"

"Your companion is in one of the cells," he said in a rush, his eyes wide as he fiddled nervously with his ring.

The Doctor searched his eyes for any trace of deception. He was telling the truth, but the question of whether or not she was alright still remained unanswered. He couldn't go to her and leave the Governor by himself.

But he had to know if she was alright.

"Stay where I can see you." The Doctor continued to use a threatening tone, as it seemed to make the Governor obey out of fear.

Glancing back every few seconds at the Governor, the Doctor made his way back to the cells. He went by several, and realized that they were all filled with one, two, three, and sometimes even four Crespians, all sitting around sulkily.

"Blimey, what happened here?" the Doctor wondered, casting another glance at the Governor. He hadn't moved, but was watching him.

He looked into the next cell. His breath caught in his throat as he saw the still form on the ground. _Rose._

The Doctor soniced the cell's panel, causing the fourth wall to rise. He ran inside and fell to his knees beside her.

"Rose," he murmured. He felt for a pulse on her neck and found it beating in a steady rhythm. He held one of her hands in his, and placed his other hand on her cheek.

Rose's eyelids fluttered open. She smiled at him, and he couldn't help but smile back. "Hello," she said in a weak voice.

"Looks like you had all the fun without me!"

"Fun," she laughed. "Looks like I did all the work for once."

"Did you put those Crespians in the cells?" asked the Doctor in surprise with a laugh. "All of them?"

"I had some help." Rose's brow bent in concern. "He's dead. Ferris, they killed him, and I failed, I couldn't even save all the humans..."

"You saved them?"

"Most of them, but not all of them. I tried, but I couldn't. Trello was a traitor, and he told the Governor, and then..." Her eyes glistened with tears, and she bit her lip.

The Doctor knew the pain she was feeling all too well, but he felt so grateful for those who had helped her and kept her alive. "You can hardly ever save everyone, Rose. Come on." The Doctor supported Rose as she stood up, though she was stable in just a few seconds. He panicked for a moment, having completely forgotten the Governor for those few seconds. Yet, when he turned back, the Crespian was backed up all the way into the cockpit, the prison moon out the huge window acting as a backdrop for the scene. The Doctor led Rose out to the Governor and smiled in the leader's distraught face.

"Well, I suppose you got off easy this time. Rose already freed most of the humans. What did you do with the rest of them? Kill them too?"

The Governor shook his head as he backed up against a dashboard, twisting around that odd ring of his. "You still haven't won, Doctor."

The Doctor examined the Governor. Something about his countenance had changed, just slightly. And his words didn't sound promising. Better do something now...

The Governor suddenly lurched back and pressed his ring against the dashboard of the ship. Outside the window, the prison moon below exploded into millions of pieces. The Governor smiled wickedly at the Doctor.

"No!" the Doctor shouted. He stared outside at the debris of the planet. Raylia was in there somewhere. The Crespian who had just wanted to see her family again.

"Oh, that was not a good move," said the Doctor through his teeth. Almost without even thinking, he found the laser gun in his hand, pointing it straight at the Governor.


	12. Chapter 12

"Doctor!" Rose clutched onto his arm and tried to pull it back, but her strength was no match for his. Her cries fell on deaf ears. She knew that the Governor had just destroyed something dear to the Doctor, whatever it was. And that was never a good thing to do.

"After all the humans you killed..." the Doctor continued, coming closer so that the gun barrel touched the Crespian's head. His voice grew louder, his Scottish accent becoming more prominent with every word. "...it still wasn't enough. You had to murder your own people too." The Doctor's hand began to tremble.

"You have to listen to me, Doctor," Rose said, placing her hand on top of the one that held the gun, wondering if maybe a gentler approach would be listened to. "This isn't who you really are, remember?"

She looked into his eyes, trying to convey her message. They were so full of rage and hate, and Rose wondered if he really would pull the trigger.

_He pulled the trigger on the Daleks, _she recalled with pain. Another memory came to the front of her mind; the other Doctor when he had left her in this universe the second time.

_"This is me when we first met." _And Rose thought of an older Doctor, pointing a gun at a lone Dalek and ready to kill it. What would he have done if she wouldn't have been there?

_"He needs you. That's very me." _

"You have to stop this," she said with more force, wishing she could somehow convey all those memories into his head.

The Doctor finally met her gaze, and the trance seemed to be broken. He blinked, and his eyes softened. He stumbled backwards into the wall, looking at the gun in his hand. He pulled something out of his jacket pocket that looked like a sonic screwdriver, and the buzzing sound it made a second later confirmed her suspicions. The gun made a popping sound, and the Doctor threw it to the floor. Rose ran to stand right by him, and he grabbed her hand in his and squeezed it.

"What are you going to do now, Doctor?" The Governor held his hand over a glowing blue button on the dashboard. "I can open all of those cells and have you shot on the spot. You should have shot me when you had the chance."

The Doctor rolled his eyes, as if he had expected something like that. "But I didn't. And do you know why?"

The Governor squinted at him. "Why?"

"Because I'm a good man. And good men like me are smart. And do you know what smart people do? They read." The Doctor pulled out a thin booklet from his jacket and held it up in front of his eyes as the Governor began to retract his hand. "And I just happened to read here..." He put a finger on a string of letters. "...that any categorized ship must have an emergency call button. Now." He snapped the book closed and dropped it on the floor. "Any ship that flies has to be categorized. And if I were you, I would hide my emergency button, just in case anyone happened to figure out my plan. So, since you were so distracted with me pointing a gun at you, you allowed me to use my sonic screwdriver to disable your ring, which is the only thing that would allow you to open the cells, and pinpoint the exact location of the button, which is right here."

The Doctor swung their joint hands backwards to hit the wall. An alarm blared and echoed throughout the ship. The Governor struck the button with his ring, but a dull beep sounded instead, and nothing happened. He looked up in rage. The Doctor smirked at him. "You should have shot me when you had the chance."

A few seconds later, five tall, blue men materialized in the room, arranged in a semi-circle around the Doctor, Rose, and the Governor.

"Your emergency?" one of them asked in a strange, deep voice.

"You might want to ask him about the missing humans," answered the Doctor promptly, pointing at the Governor. "Oh, and let those Crespians out of their cells, but don't hurt them. There might be a few nasty ones, but they've all been brain-washed by him for years now. Don't mind if we use your teleport, do you Governor? Allons-y!"


	13. Chapter 13

Still with a hold on Rose's hand, the Doctor made his screwdriver emit a buzzing noise. He pointed it in different directions, making the pitch of the sound go up or down. After a few seconds, it buzzed at the highest range yet, and the Doctor let go of the button and tugged Rose along as he began to run down the hallway of cells.

"What if the Governor lies to them?"

"I'd like to see him try. _They're_ officers; Scavians, a race of aliens that have built-in lie detectors in their heads." He tapped his temple with the sonic screwdriver. "They can shape-shift too, making them doubly dangerous, if you're on the wrong side. And he can't use force either; the Scavians have cameras embedded in their uniforms, so the head officers are always watching what's going on." The Doctor wagged his eyebrows at her. "The things you learn when you read."

Rose glanced down at his hand, where he still held the sonic screwdriver. "How did you get one of those?"

The Doctor looked down and smiled, but it quickly melted into a frown. "A friend helped me make it," he responded pensively, clearly not wanting to say any more.

By this time they had reached the end of the hallway. The Doctor turned into a doorway and entered into a spacious room. Big cylinders lined the top of the ceiling, and control panels faced the door so that they could see the blinking lights and controls.

"Teleport!" exclaimed the Doctor, running to the nearest control panel. "Beautiful. Just beautiful." He fiddled with countless dials and knobs before he jumped up and nodded toward a cleared out space in front of the panel.

"On we go, then."

"Is this safe?" asked Rose, looking up to see one of the huge cylinders directly above her. It began to glow a yellowish hue as she spoke.

"Of course it is! Good, old-fashioned teleport." He took her hand and smiled at her, raising his eyebrows. "There will be a bit of tingling, but don't worry about that."

Before Rose could say anything in response, a bright light enveloped them, and the room around them disappeared.

"Here we are," said the Doctor, pushing open the TARDIS doors, "home sweet home."

And, like it had been in the other universe, the TARDIS _was_ home to Rose. This was where she belonged with the Doctor. Still, the word "home" brought up thoughts about her mum in modern day London. What if the TARDIS wouldn't manage to get them home at the same time they had left? What if her mum was worrying about her right now?

"So, where to now?" The Doctor shifted a few controls and then smiled at her, his eyes telling of weariness. He blinked a few times, yawned, and then jumped up and slapped himself on the cheek. He shook his head. "Stop it," he murmured, as if talking to his body. "You can't be tired yet." He yawned again, and his blinks became longer. "Useless human body," he muttered.

"It's _natural," _Rose yawned."All this time being human and you still never accepted the fact that you have to sleep?"

"How can I? It's so...pointless. At least I only need a few hours. I don't know what I'd do with myself if I had to sleep as much as you lot do."

"No matter what you think about it, you're still tired." She almost ordered him to go to bed, but an important question came to her mind first.

"What is it?" the Doctor asked, taking a few steps toward her.

Rose had to smile a little. He knew her so well, down to just slight changes in her expression. But her thoughts quickly diverted back to the question that she almost didn't want to ask at all. "Back in the Crespian ship...were you really going to shoot the Governor?"

"It was a distraction," he said quickly, putting on an expressionless mask.

"Yeah, I know what you said. But when I looked into your eyes, I thought you were going to do it."

He stared down at her with an intense gaze. She could almost see the battle in his mind; whether to lie or tell the truth. Why would he lie to her? Was he afraid that she would be repulsed by him and leave?

"You pointed a gun at me once, remember?" Rose said before he could get an answer out. "And I stayed with you. I'm not asking you so I can accuse you, I just want to know."

The Doctor paused before answering. "The Governor had such a sick mind. He was going to kill me after he blew up that planet, just to watch me suffer, and destroy millions of lives in the process. Yes," the Doctor continued in a low voice. "I could have killed him. And I almost did." A tired smile lit up his grim expression as he reached out for her hand. "But you stopped me. When I looked at you, I saw the confidence you had in me, the silent pleading in your eyes. And then I came up with a plan."

"That's what I'm here for."

"And that's why I need you. I'm still not the Doctor yet; not completely."

"Good thing I'll be around then." She raised herself up on her toes and kissed him on the cheek. "But you are the Doctor to me."


End file.
